Troubleshooting: Out-of-sync Audio on Windows 10

The main cause when it comes to out-of-sync or lagging audio when viewing videos on Windows can do with Audio Software Drivers. The steps below help remedy the issue by updating Microsofts High-Definition Audio Device Drivers.

1. Launch the device manager by searching for “Device Manager” in the start menu

2. In Device Manager, expand the “Sound, video, and game controllers” node to locate the “Realtek Audio” device, then right-click it and choose “Properties”

3. In the resulting dialogue, switch to the “Driver” tab then select “Update Driver”.

4. Choose the “Browse my computer for driver software” option.

5. Choose “Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer”

6. Uncheck the “Show compatible hardware” option to force the display to include drivers not written by Realtek (all versions of which are affected by this problem)

7. Select “Microsoft” in the first list box on the left (the list of manufacturers) then select “High-definition audio device” from the resulting list in the list box on the left (the devices), then click “Next”

8. A warning dialogue will appear, attempting to dissuade you from selecting a driver not written by Realtek and expressly intended for the sound card in your PC. That is fine, we are using Microsoft’s drivers, and they’re guaranteed to work, so press “Yes” to continue

9. Windows will begin updating the driver and installing the one you selected. Depending on the speed of your PC, this may take a minute or two, but it should complete on its own without any intervention. Then you’ll see an “Audio Drivers Installed” dialogue confirming the update has completed

10. At this point, close the driver dialogue and the device manager, and then restart your PC to complete the process

11. Restart your PC to complete the process. You may or may not see a prompt asking you to do so, but you should restart in all cases

Another suggestion worth mentioning is to use an alternative video player such as VLC. VLC is a free and open-source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.

The download for VLC can be found here: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html